On the entry list for the Bathurst 12 Hour, or indeed any GT World Challenge Australia event, there will inevitably be a large contingent of Audis entered under the Melbourne Performance Centre banner. What started as a small venture between Lee Burley and Troy Russell almost 20 years ago is now the chief Audi Sport distributor in the country, including 6 cars entered in this year’s Bathurst 12 hour across Pro, Pro-Am, and Silver Cup.
Troy Russell is overseeing race operations at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, continuing a partnership that started with the first event of the GT3 era back in 2011.
“We’ve been in operation for about 19 years now… Tarmac Rallies was really where we started, Targa Tasmania and those sort of events. We moved into GT in 2009 and we’ve been doing that since.
“We’ve been the Audi distributor since 2011, [and] have been doing the Audi Sport Customer Racing programs since then.”
The relationship with Audi Sport Customer Racing came about through the 2011 Bathurst 12 Hour. With Audi bringing two cars under the Audisport Team Joest banner, additional hands were needed with a bit of local knowledge, which Troy plays down the significance of.
“Just doing a bit of stuff on the ground, not a great deal of any significance, just people power for refuelling and that sort of stuff. And just, local knowledge.
“That’s how the relationship with Audi started and grew.”
Nowadays, Melbourne Performance Centre is the factory team for the Audi Sport challenge in the Bathurst 12 hour. This weekend, the team is servicing 6 cars; the Pro entered Audi Sport #74, the #777 The Bend Motorsport Park, #65 SportsBet, and #9 Hallmarc entries in Pro-Am, and the #10 MYLAND and #47 Supabarn machines, as well as supporting the #55 Fuchs Lubricants car as an additional customer.
Six cars, each with their own spares, car manager, and crew, is a massive undertaking.
“First of all, it starts at the workshop. It’s all the prep work that goes into getting the cars ready. We bought four B-Double [trucks] up here, full of cars and equipment. And I think we’ve got over 100 people on site here.
“There’s a lot that goes into it behind the scenes to get here.”
And it’s not just equipment and the cars that need to be taken care of.
“It’s a bit that goes into just getting all that organised – that many people, coordinating flights, accommodation, feeding everyone, uniforms, all that sort of stuff.
“But we’re lucky enough to have the same bunch of guys. There’s a few new faces here, but there’s a lot of guys that have been doing it with us for the last 10 years as well that do it full time. There’s a few guys that just come out of ‘motorsport retirement’ if you like for just a one off event!
“We’ve got a great bunch of guys, which is, in any team, all about the people.”
The 12 Hour, as the marquee event in Australia, poses an especially difficult challenge for the team. But it’s not the only event that requires a large commitment; Melbourne Performance Centre also manages Audi’s Australian TCR cars, which often run at the same events as GTWC Australia.
“As far as personnel, yes [the 12 hour is the largest], but when we do TCR at the same time… When we do TCR and GT we had 11 [cars]. That’s more cars running, but it takes probably a similar amount of people. You don’t need as much equipment because you haven’t got refuelling or that sort of stuff.”
Taking care of up to eleven different cars in a weekend is a complex job, but the team and crew at Melbourne Performance Centre work separately and together to make it all happen.
“We run it completely separately – even here, every car has its own team and its own engineer… it’s effectively 10 different operations running under the same umbrella.”
“The guys jump over and help each other,” Troy indicates to the #9 Hallmarc Audi, undergoing repairs after its shunt in FP2. “There’s guys that are handing the Pro cars which didn’t run last session, so those cars are ready. The guys on that car are helping with this one.
“It’s a big undertaking. There’s so much going on, [but] once everything rolls out, it starts to flow a bit better, everyone just goes about their business.”
Inevitably, with so many cars on track, occasionally they do run into each other.
“That’s never ideal,” Troy says with a chuckle. “Always makes the debrief a little difficult.
“But that’s racing. Like I said, it’s effectively six different teams, so we can’t have team orders in the garage, we never have and we probably never will. Clearly, no-one wants to crash into each other so we do our best to help each other as best we can.
“They’re all racing for the same thing at the end of the day.”
While the Audi factory drivers and AudiSport personnel coming from overseas are a big headline for the event, for the team at Melbourne Performance Centre, it’s just another day at the office.
“The Internationals are mostly the same guys that we’ve mostly dealt with for years as well.
“Nothing changes. Whether it’s Chaz Mostert or one of [the international drivers], it’s the same thing.”
Despite the significant operations in GTWC Australia and TCR Australia, Troy is already looking ahead at opportunities outside of the country, supporting customers and running cars on an international scale.
“There’s actually a little bit of talk about that at the moment. There’s a lot going on here in Australia, but it would be nice to go and do some international events.
“We’ve done the Sepang 12 Hour in the past, and been to New Zealand and raced over there a few times.”
When asked what international races in particular though, Troy was tight lipped.
“There’s nothing really concrete,” he says with a wry smile. “But yeah, there’s a few things on the radar.”
Despite everything that Melbourne Performance Centre has achieved, including three consecutive GTWC Australia/Australian GT championships and an Australian TCR Championship, the Bathurst 12 Hour is missing from the trophy cabinet. Although they did support Audi Sport Team Joest and Phoenix Racing to victories in 2011 and 2012, MPC haven’t yet taken victory as their own outfit.
Troy made it clear that overall victory at the 12 Hour is the target.
“Absolutely – Everyone wants to win, it’s an event that’s bloody hard to win. But you need good luck on your side as well.
“Last year, the Allan Simonsen Trophy was really important to us. We did some stuff with Allan back in the tarmac rally days, so he was part of the family. It was great to win that trophy.
“It’d be nice to be at the top step of the podium, but 12 hours is a long way. And there’s plenty of other people who have the same idea.
“We’ll give it our best shot as we always do, and see what happens.”
